THE BASICS

Smart Ways to Save Money

These apps make budgeting simple—and even a little fun.

Growing your nest egg just became a lot easier. These apps can help you create a savings plan that will pay dividends for years to come.

See the big picture

This longtime favorite is a dependable way to track spending, income, and accounts all in one place—and the latest design puts your financial picture into even clearer focus: Your net worth is now front and center on the app’s home screen, followed by snapshots of your cash, debt, and recent transactions.

Get clarity on your spending

Clarity Money starts by suggesting a budget based on your past income and expenditures—then helps you see exactly how much is left to spend each month. Along the way, fun cards recommend ways to trim your expenses—and congratulate you on money well managed.

Copilot breaks down your spending by category—and shows you how much you’re splurging (or not) compared to last month.

Eliminate overlooked memberships

With elegant graphs and an interface that’s a genuine joy to use, Copilot helps you visualize exactly where your money is going; its smart algorithms, driven by machine learning, are especially adept at automatically categorizing transactions. Neat trick: The app scours your transactions to uncover recurring charges you might be overlooking.

Sock away spare change

Created in partnership with behavioral economist Dan Ariely, this full-service banking app leverages science-based techniques to help you succeed at saving. Think simple steps, like rounding your purchases to the nearest dollar and setting aside the difference, or divvying up big deposits to make sure you’ve covered your financial commitments.

The dreaded Money Discussion can be one of the least enjoyable parts of a relationship. Let Honeydue facilitate!

Save with your significant other

Honeydue helps couples see their finances, separate or combined, in real time. This way you’ll both know what you’re overspending on lattes and how much you’re socking away into the vacation fund, so you can determine—together—how to meet your goals.

Finally make that budget!

Budgeting usually isn’t fun—but it is good for you. YNAB walks you through the process, step by step.

According to financial experts, budgeting is the only way to put a freeze on spending too much—and the enduring and trusted YNAB (“You Need a Budget”) can help you set one up quickly and easily.

Avoid overdraft fees

Bank overdraft fees make Dave very annoyed. This friendly banking app alerts you to any potential overdrafts it sees coming—and will even give you a small, interest-free advance on your next paycheck to cover the overdraft if you need it.

Use Digit to sock away money without noticing—and divvy up those savings into budgets you’ve set up.

Save on autopilot

The single best way to save is to not think about saving. Digit takes you out of the equation entirely: The app analyzes your daily spending habits and figures out a sensible amount to withdraw from your linked checking account so you can meet your savings goals.